Illusive Consensus
by figliedellatempesta
Summary: After Hisana's death, Byakuya denied himself sexual and emotional involvement with women.  But now his growing attraction to his adopted sister Rukia is making this vow considerably harder.
1. Chapter 1

**Warning: **M-rated lemony action. This story will contain ByaXHisana, ByaXRukia and ByaxByakuya's right hand :P **Don't like, don't read!**

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Byakuya sighed as he entered his office, shrugging off his captain's haori and draping it lightly across the back of a nearby chair. He was tired; it had been another hard day and he quite frankly couldn't stand one more stupid comment or idiotic mishap from Renji or any of the rest of his division. They were going through a recruitment process, and it was definitely testing Kuchiki's patience to the maximum. Calm and collected he may seem on the surface, but there were only so many utter idiots he could interview, and only so many hours he could put into training new recruits who were continually blowing up nearby shrubbery with mis-aimed soukatsuis. His forehead was lightly sheened with sweat from the rigorous training exercises he was pushing the groups through and his normally smart uniform was a little dusty and crumpled. Normally his first move would be to the small adjoining kitchen to make tea, but today was a hot day, and tea seemed a little too warm to be really refreshing. In fact, what he needed more than anything was a shower to remove the residue of the training grounds from his skin. He bolted the door to avoid any unwanted visits from Renji or anyone else, and began to take off his grubby uniform; slipping off his sandals first, the dark shinigami uniform then slipping lightly to the floor, revealing the toned, slender body underneath. Finally, he gently removed the kenseiken from his hair, shaking it out and brushing it softly back with his hands.

Only then, totally naked, did he walk into the shower area that adjoined his office, comprising his private quarters where he spent time when he was too busy to head back to the Kuchiki manor, or had business to attend to in his office. He enjoyed this captain's privilege of having a private shower, as he preferred to keep his dignity intact, as opposed to joining the mass of sweaty, muscled male bodies who crammed into the usual 6th division showers, jostling for space and arguing over soap. He turned on the shower, allowing the water to warm a little before he stepped in, letting the refreshing water sluice over his tired, aching body. He quickly soaped himself, the warm water rinsing away the sweat, dust and weariness of the day, and he finally began to relax a little. However, despite the physical relaxation, Byakuya was still oddly tense. As he washed his hair, images and memories from the day, and the previous few days began to wander into his mind. Something was troubling him. That afternoon, Rukia had come across to the 6th division's training ground; she'd come to pass on a simple message, but he'd been very harsh and aggressive with her, taking out his annoyance on her with sharp, clipped words. Now that he was a little more relaxed, and at leisure to think about it a little more closely, he realised that he'd been very unfair towards her. But was that exactly what was troubling him, or was it something else? A couple of days ago, Rukia had come to him, very excited, to tell him some news about the human world. News which had had something to do with the substitute shinigami, Kurosaki Ichigo. He'd seen how happy and excited she looked, the lightly flushed expression on her face when she mentioned the subsitute, and for some unknown reason, his stomach had clenched with annoyance at the mere mention of his name, at the adoring expression on his sister's face, and he'd again been cold and reserved with her, leaving the younger shinigami a little confused and hurt.

For some reason, the relationship between himself and the younger, adopted Kuchiki had been a little uncomfortable lately. He reasoned with himself that it was due to his dislike of Kurosaki and his friends, and perhaps due to his concern for Rukia's safety and wellbeing when she was stationed in the human world, although gut feeling told him this was not the whole truth. Byakuya sighed and twisted the handle to turn the water off, pulling a towel around him and rubbing himself partially dry, before wrapping it around his waist and going in search of clean clothes. Entering the small bedroom which he used on occasion, he sat down momentarily on the side of the bed. Another image had entered his mind, and one that made him considerably more uncomfortable than the previous ones. Two weeks ago, he had gone to see Rukia in her quarters. In a moment of thoughtlessness, he had forgotten to knock, and had walked in on her getting changed; wearing nothing but her lace panties, she had gasped with shock and hurriedly pulled a towel over herself to hide her modestly. Hurriedly, but not fast enough, as Byakuya's eyes had had time to rove momentarily over the young shinigami's slim body, her flat stomach, small but pert breasts and slim, almost childlike, but deceptively strong limbs. He had apologised profusely, embarassed almost to the point of forgetting his superior rank, but what had made him more uncomfortable and horrified than the mere embarrassment was the unwanted bulge that he had struggled to conceal in his hakama as he shunpoed back to his own room. He had tried every possible excuse in his mind to rationalize his physical reaction to seeing her semi-naked body, but he had quite simply failed to reduce the burning guilt and disgust that he felt towards himself every time he remembered that moment. Ever since then he had tried to busy and distract himself with near-constant work and training, trying to forget the mortifying event, but as soon as he was alone with his thoughts, he was almost unable to suppress the images that drifted unbidden into his mind, and with every day he was becoming less and less able to ignore the aching in his lower abdomen and the persistent physical arousal whenever he even momentarily thought about Rukia.

Every time any thoughts of her entered his mind, he forced himself to push them away, and today was no exception. Taking a deep breath, he changed into some nightwear and sank into bed, hoping to fall asleep quickly and not to think any more about her. Unfortunately, this was not to be; he couldn't keep his subconscious mind from running and rerunning the images of Rukia's perfect body, and worse, imagining yet more. His cock was rapidly hardening beneath the cool sheets, and every movement created aggravating friction which made him moan softly with frustration. In the years since Hisana's death, he had denied himself sexual contact, denied himself female company, and denied himself any kind of sexual stimulation.

Not that there had been much sexual satisfaction to be gained within the marriage itself. Byakuya's mind snapped sharply back several years to the time when they had been married. Hisana had been a street child, a nobody, but she had somehow utterly captivated him. Her dark, intelligent eyes, her cheeky smile, her soft dark hair falling into her eyes, her slim figure and her tough but reserved personality. He had loved her more wildly and more passionately than he had ever thought possible. He had loved her in a way that she had never loved him back. Respected him, yes; grateful to him, of course; fond of him even, but she had never felt even a spark of the passionate desire Byakuya had felt for her. Of course, she had married him. It had gotten her out of the sewers of one of the poorest Rukon districts and into one of the most respected houses into all of Seireitei. A few more years on the streets would certainly have spelt death for her, and as the wife of a Kuchiki, she could want for nothing, and she knew she was married to a good, strong and noble man. Not that any of this had been much consolation to Byakuya. He saw the light go out in Hisana's eyes when he made love to her, he saw her flinch, almost imperceptibly when he kissed or touched her. From the moment he saw her, he knew he had to have her at any cost; even the damage to his reputation caused by taking a commoner into the noble family. Perhaps he had been so consumed by his own desire, lust, passion and love, that he had failed to notice the politeness with which Hisana received his advances; the smiles that were sweet, but lacking in real joy. The first night he had spent with her, he had ripped her clothes from her body in a rough, animalistic way that no one would have thought the stoic 6th division captain capable of, he had taken her roughly and passionately, thrusting into her almost desperately, desperate for a responsiveness he would never get. He had persisted for a few weeks, becoming more gentle in his sexual advances, kissing her, caressing her and trying everything he could think of to make her enjoy the experience. To little avail. She had never resisted his touches, but there was a quietness and sadness about her demeanour that broke his heart, even though his body raged with lust for hers. Gradually, he had closed off his heart, a little more each day, denying his body the satisfaction it needed, almost as a punishment to himself for not being worthy of the love that he so desperately craved from her. When Hisana had died, he shut himself off almost completely. Even though he had continued his captain's duties, and his role as the head of the Kuchiki house had meant he could never falter in his commitment to upholding the laws and traditions of the Seireitei, he had closed down his heart and his body to any further hint of love or lust.

However, there was only so long that his body would allow him to deny it release. Every movement intensified the aching frustration and the nagging demands for relief. Regardless of his attempts to shut out the unwanted fantasies, the captain found himself unable to rid himself of the images of his adopted sister, and his body's overwhelming desire for her. Byakuya cursed himself silently for his weakness and the immorality of his thoughts; he turned over in bed and screwed his eyes shut, although there was no way he was going to be able to sleep in his current state. As he moved, the blanket shifted slightly across his almost naked body, causing a shudder of unintended pleasurable stimulation through the lower half of his body, making him even harder than he had already been. Biting his lip, he shifted to a sitting position, leaning back slightly against the wall, eyes shut, trying to talk himself back into a more rational state. His cock, still hard, was pressing uncomfortably against the underside of the blanket; absentmindedly, he moved his hand downwards to shift the blanket away, and found his hand brushing lightly against his hardened member. The waves of pleasure it brought to him were unwanted and mildly disturbing, but Byakuya was rapidly losing all sense of pride and rationality in the wake of the cloud of lust that was enveloping his mind. Almost without thinking, in fact certainly without thinking, as he would never have mindfully allowed himself to give in to such base physical temptation, he found himself gripping his cock roughly in his somewhat sweaty right hand. His whole body shuddered with the sensation, and his eyes closed, his lips parting slightly as he panted with extreme arousal. It is fair to say that by this point, the part of his mind that was protesting pride, station, propriety and honour was more than silenced by the rest of his mind and body, which screamed for release, no matter the circumstances. Gritting his teeth, momentarily silencing the voice of guilt and shame in his mind, he began to move his hand, at first slowly, then harder and faster, pumping persistently and desperately. Much to his own embarrassment and horror, he was unable to suppress quiet moans and grunts of pleasure, although no one was there to witness nor hear his shame. His stomach clenched hard and his insides burned and tightened; he found himself bucking his hips slightly, increasing the unbearable, incredible friction; and his breathing became heavier, panting even.

In his mind, he could see Hisana, splayed out on the bed in front of him, inviting him, yet somehow seemingly mocking him. He groaned heavily as he imagined his hands digging into her firm curves, the fingers of his left hand curling into his damp sheets as he pictured the scene. As he became further aroused, nearer to climax, the realisation hit him like a bolt of terrifying lightning: the woman in his fantasy was not Hisana, but her younger sister. Rukia. "Rukia," he moaned aloud, seemingly unaware of his own utterance. His hand grasped the sheet, his body spasmed and he cried out Rukia's name as he finally climaxed; his whole body overwhelmed and overcome by the intense waves of agonising, shameful, mind-shattering pleasure and the sheer incredible relief. Panting hard, he sank back against the sheets and fell almost instantly into a semi-peaceful sleep. A sleep induced by pure physical relief and relaxation, although mentally, he was in turmoil. The peaceful state did not last, and within a few hours, he was awake, his mind spinning and his stomach churning; wracked with horrible guilt and disgust at himself. Almost gagging with disgust at his own behaviour, he hurriedly got out of bed, pulling a light kimono over his naked body and ripping the stained sheets from his bed, before throwing them onto the floor. He stumbled almost drunkenly back to the shower, where he stepped straight into the ice cold water, silently praying for the freezing water to wash away his solecism along with the sweat and other bodily fluids. After around 30 minutes of freezing his body to the point that he was shivering violently, he got back out of the shower and dressed again, before storming out into the night. It was around 3am, and mercifully, no one was around. The night was peaceful, dark and cool, and it almost relaxed him. He paced constantly for several hours, running the same self-flagellating thoughts over and over in his mind.

When the morning finally came, he went straight to training without going back to his quarters, and threw himself back into work with a single-minded intensity, surpassing even his usual rather obsessive work ethic. Over the following few days, he worked himself to the point of physical and mental exhaustion, allowing himself no free time at all, and sleeping only 4 hours a night in order to make sure he was so tired he fell asleep instantly. Training and fighting allowed him an outlet for his frustration, anger and self-hatred, and it took his mind away from the one place he would not, could not allow it to linger: Rukia.

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to be continued... probably. please let me know what you think. my first m-rated and relatively lemony fic, but hopefully also quite interesting too(?) anyway, no reviews, no continuation


	2. Chapter 2

I definitely did NOT expect so many reviews so quickly, but I am super grateful and very happy! In return, here is chapter two! There isn't much "action" in this chapter, so I hope it doesn't disappoint, but I just didn't feel that it was appropriate to rush things too much. its not going to be a very long story, so it will only be one or two more chapters (I think). Anyway, hope you guys enjoy, and please do let me know what you think. Would you like more lemon or should I keep it on the cute, sweet route that it seems to have gone down?

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A week had passed. Byakuya was extraordinarily thankful for the fact he had not encountered Rukia at all. In fact, he had been doing absolutely everything within his power to avoid meeting her, including pretending not to be in his office when she knocked, shunpoing hastily as far away as possible whenever he sensed her reiatsu and avoiding the Kuchiki manor and the 13th division at all costs. However he knew that this childish attitude could not continue forever. Sooner or later he was going to have to face his demons, and nothing he could do could ease his discomfort at this prospect.

Just as Byakuya had feared, the moment had come when an inevitable occasion would arise, where he would have to be in the same room as Rukia. Rukia, his adopted sister. Rukia, the girl whose big, dark eyes and slim figure occupied every inch of space in his mind. Rukia, the young shinigami who, oblivious, was leading Byakuya almost to madness.

The summons came, early morning, as the 6th division captain was dealing with some unavoidable paperwork. He would have preferred physical work to vent his frustrations, but paperwork was a neccessary evil, which he knew better than anyone had to be done before it began to mound up. His window open to let in the fresh, blossom scented breeze, but the door shut to avoid visitors, he sat at his desk; poised and dignified, signing piles of forms and checking reports. Just as he was beginning to lose himself in the calm, repetitive haze of paperwork, there came a knock at the door. As was becoming usual in the last few days, any such disruption caused him to jump nervously, knocking over his bottle of ink. Frowning in annoyance, he took a moment to compose himself before answering:

"Who is it?" he called out, voice emotionless and stoical, as normal.

"Taichou, it's me," Renji's familiar voice answered him, "There's an interdivision meeting, 12.00, soutaichou's orders. Apparently it's something important."

Byakuya's forehead creased automatically. Meetings weren't something that he liked at the best of times; he preferred to be left alone to run his department as he saw fit, but he had been very much hoping to get away with staying in his office, laying low for as long as was humanly possible.

"Very well," he replied, allowing no trace of his annoyance or inner turmoil to enter his voice. "Is that all, Abarai?"

Renji hesitated for a moment, a little taken-aback by the touch of hostility in his captain's tone. He was used to Kuchiki being reserved and distant, but nonetheless, he wasn't happy to be dismissed so lightly so often. "Eh, Kuchiki-taichou? Can I come in?" he ventured.

"I'm afraid I am working, Abarai. I will see you at the meeting," he said, curtly. He caught a quiet huff in response, on the other side of the door, but Renji's spiritual pressure soon vanished, leaving him in peace once more. Relative peace, anyway; his mind rarely allowed him such a luxury. There were still another two hours until the meeting; without a further thought, he got back to the pile of work. He pushed the niggling worries to the side of his mind for the moment, paperwork tended to be a good way for him to focus his mind and not dwell on his thoughts too much. After a few moments, he was reimmersed in the mechanical process of reviewing training reports. So much so, that it came as rather a surprise when the clock chimed twelve, causing him to start slightly with the sudden realisation that he was going to be late for the meeting.

Byakuya used shunpo to hurry to the meeting, giving himself a second when he got there to smooth his hair, straighten his robes and step into the room looking cool and unflustered, as he usually did. The soutaichou gave him a momentary look of disapproval when he entered, but Byakuya returned his look with an emotionless nod, and Yamamoto continued with business.

"As I was saying," he continued, "as you are all aware, Aizen's betrayal has left us with three open captains' positions. I have decided that the time has come when we should begin to look for replacements for these positions."

A general murmur of excitement ran around the room. All 10 captains were in attendance, in addition to the 12 existing vice-captains and a handful of seated officers. Byakuya breathed an imperceptible sigh of relief as he realised Rukia was not in attendence. The news did not fascinate him in particular. He was well aware of Yamamoto's plans to promote Shuuhei Hisagi, and to interview within the existing departments for the remaining two positions. This meeting was certainly going to be a waste of his time, although he would never dream of showing his displeasure at being called to hear information he already knew.

"I have myself decided on the following: Shuuhei Hisagi, vice-captain of the 9th division is to be instated as captain..." Shuuhei blushed a little at the notice, and nodded his head respectfully, mildly embarrassed at the attention, although proud to be taking on the position.

"... I hope we will all make him feel welcome in this position," Yamamoto continued, in a measured drone, "Secondly, the captains will be responsible for the final vote on the other two positions. Applications will open as of today, with applications open to any existing seated officers, and to nominations from captains. The application process will remain open for two weeks, after which a vote will be held with all captains, to decide on the successful candidates."

No surprises there. Byakuya's expression remained impassive. This was Yamamoto's idea of an important meeting, of course. However, the following revelation was news to him, and not welcome news at all.

"Finally, in relation to the open vice-captain position within the thirteenth division, Ukitake-san and myself have come to the conclusion that we are going to promote Kuchiki Rukia to fill this position. The acting vice-captains, Kotetsu Kiyone and Kotsubaki have been judged to have insufficient experience for the position, and no further applicants have come forth. No one from the other divisions can be spared, and Ukitake-san has personally vouched for Kuchiki-san's ability to fulfil this role to an adequate standard."

Byakuya almost choked on hearing these words. Why on earth had he not been consulted? Rukia was his sister, surely he would have been asked, or at least informed about this decision? Of course, he more than trusted her ability to take on the position, but that was far beside the point. For one thing, had he not made it clear that he did not wish Rukia's safety to be compromised by her being placed as a seated officer, let alone a vice-captain? Not to mention that, as her older brother, and the head of the Kuchiki household, the idea that they would not have asked his permission was frankly ridiculous. He struggled to maintain his composure as he interjected:

"With all due respect, Yamamoto-san, why was I not consulted about this decision?"

Yamamoto responded with a completely impenetrable expression. Ukitake cut in, "My deepest apologies, Byakuya. I felt that Rukia-san was the best person for the job, and she is more than ready for a promotion. She told me herself that she would be happy to take on the position. Given her closeness to Kaien-san, she is very much the best person to take on his role. I am afraid that it was my fault that you were not asked, I apologise."

Apologise? Apologise? Was that the best that old buffoon could come up with? Of course Byakuya respected Ukitake as one of the oldest and most skilled members of the Gotei 13, but his happy-go-lucky attitude verged on idiocy sometimes, and he couldn't stand the disrespectful way in which he addressed him without the appropriate honorific. Of course Ukitake was older and more experienced than himself, but in his view, this did not excuse his dismissive attitude. He struggled to suppress a scowl.

Ignoring Ukitake's remarks completely, he addressed the soutaichou directly. "Yamamoto-san, I am afraid I cannot support this decision. I request that this position be withdrawn immediately."

"Nonsense," Yamamoto replied, dismissively, "I won't hear any of your childish complaints, Byakuya. The decision has been made, and as your superior officer, I won't hear anything against it from you."

Byakuya gritted his teeth slightly. His blood boiled at the rebuke, and at being treated like a foolish youngster by some of the older captains. However, he knew that he couldn't get away with arguing back with Yamamoto, who was incredibly stubborn when it came to decision-making. He nodded and said no more.

"Very well." Yamamoto said, with an emotionless finality. "I assume there are no more objections to these appointments. You all have one week to hand in any nominations, and we will reconvene in two weeks time. Meeting dismissed."

Byakuya completely ignored the voice calling after him as he left the room. He certainly did not wish to speak any further with Ukitake, and neither did he fancy listening to Renji's excited chatter about Rukia joining him as a vice-captain. He stormed back to his quarters, a face like thunder, slamming the door as he locked himself in his office, pacing back and forth in an attempt to quell his annoyance. He was just managing to calm down, when there came a tentative knock at his door.

"Who is it?" he enquired, emotionlessly.

"N-nii sama?" Rukia's slightly nervous voice replied, "It's me, Rukia... I-I wanted to discuss something with you."

Byakuya felt his face instantly heat up, and his heart rate increase. In his annoyance at the events of the meeting, he had almost forgotten the real reason for his recent disquietude. There was no point in him pretending not to be there, his reiatsu was all over the place, and there was no way she hadn't sensed it. He sighed heavily and decided he was going to have to attempt to be a little more mature about the situation.

"What is it, Rukia?" he replied, his voice cold in his attempt to keep his nervousness unnoticed.

"Um, nii-sama, may I come in?" she asked, a little taken aback at his coldness.

"I'm very busy at the moment, Rukia," he replied.

There was a moment's hesitation, Rukia wondering what she could have done to make her nii-sama so distant and unfriendly with her. "Is something wrong, nii-sama?" she asked, gently.

Byakuya flinched. "Of course not," he said, brusquely. "Congratulations on your promotion, Rukia. I will discuss it with you at another time, I'm afraid I am too busy with work right now."

A quiet sigh of disappointment sounded on the other side of the door. "Ok," she said, quietly, her dispondency evident in her voice. "Sorry to bother you, nii-sama."

Byakuya let his head fall into his hands. He hated himself for being dismissive and impolite with Rukia, when really he should be congratulating her, but he couldn't find a way to look at her directly without aching to take her in his arms and smother her with his embrace. He was ashamed and angry with himself, but he couldn't think of another way to deal with the situation. He couldn't dishonour Hisana's memory by having a relationship with her sister. And anyway, as his adopted sister, any relationship between them would be highly inappropriate. Not to mention the fact that, in his position, he had many more important things to do, and wasting time on relationships was just that, wasting time. He realised that in his aggravation, he had carved a deep groove in his desk with his letter opener. Mentally scolding himself for reacting so childishly to what was surely a temporary lapse of judgement, he got up from his desk and resolved not to think any more about his feelings for Rukia. Certainly, he had behaved extremely inadvisedly in the last few days, but it was nothing to get this distressed about, and it was no excuse to behave as childishly as he currently was. He had momentarily become confused about his relationship with Rukia, but he had now realised the ridiculousness of his sentiments and actions, and once more had his desires under control.

Feeling as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders, Byakuya headed back out of his office to find Renji, who was meant to be reporting back to him on how training the recruits was going. Suspecting that he would find not find Renji at the training ground, but rather hanging around in his favourite spot near the 6th division barracks, he set off in that direction. A few minutes later, his suspicions were confirmed as he found Renji sitting under a tree relaxing. He narrowed his eyes as he strode purposefully over towards his subordinate.

"Abarai"

Renji started, and jumped up, saluting in a fairly ridiculous manner. "Taichou!"

Byakuya would have rolled his eyes, had it not been a little unfitting for someone of his status. "May I ask why you are chilling out under this tree? I assume you have finished the reports then?"

Renji flushed a little. "Yes, taichou!" He pulled a pile of rather crumpled papers from somewhere within his robes. Byakuya sighed and took them.

"Very well then, that is all, Renji."

"Thank you, taichou," Renji replied, as Byakuya turned to walk back to his office to read the report. "Er, hang on a sec... taichou... er, there's something I wana talk to yer about."

Byakuya raised an eyebrow. He didn't really have time to listen to some of Renji's nonsense about his bankai, but nonetheless, he turned and fixed his impassive gaze on his subordinate. "Yes?"

Renji shifted uncomfortably. "Well, you see... I was just talking to Rukia. She's um, er, pretty upset." Byakuya's heart sank. Not the topic of conversation he was hoping for. Renji continued, nervously, "she said, er, she said she came by yer office earlier, and you wouldn't speak to her." He looked at his captain somewhat accusingly, displeased with anyone who upset or insulted his childhood friend. "What's goin' on, taichou?" he demanded, rather boldly, since he was actually quite intimidated by Kuchiki.

Byakuya huffed impatiently. "Nothing is 'going on' Abarai. I was merely too busy to speak with her at that moment. I will discuss things with her as soon as I am less busy. Is that all?"

Renji nodded, then scowled. "Still no need to be rude, 's all. She's a bit upset that you didn't congratulate her on her promotion."

Byakuya softened a little. "Very well, then I will stop by the manor later and see her." Renji smiled, the look of concern on his face dissipating. Sensing that he was temporarily absolved, Byakuya swiftly made his way back to his office to read the report.

A few hours later, after he had finished reading Renji's scruffy and poorly-spelt notes, tidied his office, dealt with a few queries from division members and completed a few extra tasks, he decided that he was not going to be able to avoid seeing Rukia for much longer without raising rather a lot of suspicions about his behaviour. Besides, he had now more or less conquered his feelings for Rukia, so there would be no problem with him dropping by to quickly wish her well in her new role. His usual calm and collected self, he strolled back to the Kuchiki manor at a leisurely pace. He found Rukia in the main reception room, surrounded by a couple of friends. On seeing him, her face lit up momentarily, although she hung back, nervous about approaching him if he was annoyed with her for some reason.

"Good afternoon, Rukia," he said, rather formally, but with a little more warmth in his voice. He was perfectly capable of talking to Rukia like a reasonable human being, the embarrassing events of the previous week now more or less forgotten.

"Good afternoon, nii-sama," she greeted him, eyes wide and shining. The couple of friends who had been chatting with her nodded politely and left, leaving the two alone together in the room. Byakuya felt his heart rate increase slightly, but he ignored it. It was merely a polite visit.

"I apologise if I seemed dismissive earlier. I am afraid I was rather stressed out by some paperwork I was trying to finish. I did not mean to offend you."

"Of course, nii-sama. I understand."

Byakuya found himself slightly nervous. The atmosphere between them seemed incredibly stilted, but he couldn't really find a way to lessen the tension. "Ah, yes. I came by here to congratulate you on your new position," he said, forcing a smile.

Rukia beamed, apparently not noticing how stiffly Byakuya was behaving. Perhaps it was not such a departure from his usual demeanour. "Thank you so much," she replied, cheerfully. "I... uh, there's a party tonight, to celebrate. I would be honoured if you would attend." She looked at him, nervous but hopeful.

Byakuya hesitated. It was certainly not a good idea for him to attend, in fact it would probably be an unpleasantly rowdy affair with many of the younger shinigami, including Renji and that subsitute, Kurosaki. He shuddered slightly. Ah yes, Kurosaki. He knew that that orange haired moron had his eyes on his Rukia. Ahem, not _his_ Rukia, but all the same, he didn't want that childish upstart having too much to do with anyone in his family.

"No thank you," he replied, politely, "you have your fun, Rukia. I'm sure there is no need for me to be there."

He couldn't help noticing the disappointment in her eyes. The way she cast her beautiful, wide eyes downwards, in exactly the way Hisana had used to. The way that a lock of her midnight dark hair fell across her beautiful face, before she brushed it delicately away with her slim, pale hand. A slight shiver ran through his body. How had he gone so long without noticing how beautiful she really was? She had all of Hisana's looks, but she also had a fiery personality, and a fighting spirit that Hisana never had. He realised they had spent over a minute standing in an awkward silence, looking at each other without saying anything.

"Nii-sama, is something wrong?" Rukia enquired.

"Of course not," he replied, hastily.

"A-are you angry that I was given the vice-captaincy?" she asked, nervously. "I-if you don't want me to take it, I won't. I would never do anything to displease you, Byakuya nii-sama."

Byakuya's eyes widened a little with surprise. She was this worried about displeasing him? "Of course not, Rukia. What a foolish notion. I am very pleased for you."

"Really?" she beamed with childlike excitement and joy. "Thank you," she said, darting towards him and throwing her arms around him in a joyful hug. A platonic, familial hug, of course. Of course, Byakuya knew this, but it didn't stop his heart from pounding in his chest, his palms from sweating or a light flush from rising in his cheeks. Heart beating fit to burst, without thinking, he kissed her swiftly on the top of the head. An action that a big brother could certainly do to a younger sister in such a situation, definitely, but not one that was characteristic of Kuchiki Byakuya. Rukia looked up at him in surprise, but looking very pleased with the display of affection from her beloved nii-sama.

"Well done Rukia," he said, hastily, "I wish you all the best. Enjoy your party tonight," he muttered, before turning and leaving as quickly as was possible without looking strange, leaving Rukia looking after him with slight confusion.

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I'll try and update again soon-ish. please review! arigato!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three for your sick amusement ;) ... I'm having way too much fun writing this, it's really running away with itself though, and I can sense at least another chapter or two in the pipeline. In case you can't guess, I majorly have the hots for Byakuya at the moment. Anyway, this one's a bit more interesting than the last, I hope it hasn't got too unrealistic or out of character, since it's been really hard to keep it believable. Let me know if you think its any good or not! xx ps, thanks for the review so far!

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Byakuya practically slammed the door shut behind him, before leaning against the wall, pressing his forehead against the cold plaster, trying to steady his breathing. Confused thoughts swirled around in his mind, and he hit his head a couple of times against the wall, trying to stifle the turmoil of emotions and ideas. Ok, so he'd kissed Rukia, but it was barely a kiss. A brotherly kiss, just as Rukia's hug had been a sisterly hug. So why the hell was the mere thought of it making him so excited? Rukia's hug had thrown him off balance. She was normally more formal and polite around him, despite her fondness and love for him, so it had surprised him for her to be so tactile, although he supposed it came from over-excitement about her promotion. Wasn't he glad for her? Yes, of course he was, but the promotion was the least of the things occupying his mind. Rukia's body pressed against his, even for a moment, had set his heart and mind racing to a disturbing degree. He had felt her pert breasts against him through the material of each of their uniforms. Something that should have been so innocent was rapidly becoming more and more lewd in his mind. And that kiss. It had been almost nothing, a mere peck, a fleeting, affectionate kiss, as any brother would do to congratulate his sister. Most brothers, perhaps, but he was hardly renowned for being so affectionate, and what would have been a sweet gesture took on a whole new meaning given the thoughts he had been having about Rukia lately.

So this was what had happened to his decision to forget the thoughts he had had about Rukia, was it? It had been over a week since he had given in to that disgusting physical urge, and he certainly wasn't going to engage in such depraved behaviour again, but that didn't change the fact that utterly inappropriate thoughts and images were pouring into his brain, accompanied by physical sensations that made his whole body tense up. In his mind that one, innocent moment between him and Rukia went further, much further. He pictured himself kissing her properly, on the lips, his tongue meeting hers, his hard body pressed against her soft one. He was pushing her back against the wall, his hands sliding up her robes... He was hard all over again just picturing this scene in his head. Oh god... he cursed silently to himself. He was pacing back and forwards across his office again, like a complete lunatic. He had almost become a lunatic recently, he mused to himself, driven to utter distraction by his impure thoughts about Rukia. Momentarily, the thought crossed his mind that he could just give in to the urges and desires. Tell Rukia how he felt, take her for his own, make her his new wife even... Ever more farfetched thoughts swam through his mind, even as far as running away from the Seireitei to be with her, although he barely entertained such an idea, as his position and status meant everything to him. No, he knew he couldn't do any of those things, it would endanger everything he had worked so hard to achieve; his captaincy, his division, the entire Kuchiki name... But then what could he do? He couldn't be with Rukia, that much was certain, but nor could he carry on like this, every cell of his body aching for her touch. Fleetingly, his hand crept to his waistband, a shudder of excitement running thorough his body at the mere thought of doing what he so badly needed to do. In a way, how wrong it was made it yet more tempting, but his pride and dignity would not let him stoop that low again. No, he once more forced himself, fully clothed into an ice cold shower; only the sheer pain of the cold water could remove the aching, burning desire he felt, even if just for a few hours.

The next morning Byakuya woke, damp sheets, from a series of very uneasy dreams. Tired and irritable, he got back into the shower yet again, washed himself clean and dressed, wandering rather distractedly towards the training grounds. As he approached the grounds, he happened to overhear part of a hushed conversation between a couple of younger shinigami who he didn't particularly recognise:

"Yeah, everyone was pretty wasted, I reckon."

"Haha, are you kidding me? Wait til Kuchiki-taichou finds out!"

Byakuya's stomach clenched at those words. What exactly was it that he wasn't supposed to find out?

"Yeah, he hates Kurosaki... uh oh... that Ichigo ain't gonna be feeling so good when Kuchiki finds out that he got his precious sister drunk!"

Byakuya narrowed his eyes. Kurosaki in the same sentence as Rukia was never his favourite thing to hear, but the idea of him getting her drunk was enough to make his blood boil. He heard no more of the conversation, but it was enough to get his mind into overdrive, imagining progressively worse scenarios in which Ichigo took advantage of an inebriated Rukia. Suddenly he completely forgot whatever he had been about to do, and set off to find Kurosaki to give him a piece of his mind. Or a piece of Senbonzakura, as the case may be. It didn't take him too long to find the subsitute shinigami; Ichigo was well known among all the younger and more party-minded shinigami, and eventually someone pointed him to where Ichigo was hanging out, relaxing in the sunshine.

Without giving Ichigo any warning, Byakuya strode over to him, grabbed him by the front of his robes and slammed him against a tree.

"Hey, Byakuya, what gives?"

Byakuya was far too angry to even consider Ichigo's usual failure to address him in the correct manner. "What did you do to Rukia?" he demanded, fire in his eyes.

"Wha? Rukia? I didn't do anything, what the hell are you on about?"

"I've heard some rather interesting rumours about your activities last night, Kurosaki. Explain yourself immediately."

A slightly guilty look began to spread across the orange haired shinigami's face, and Byakuya slammed him roughly against the tree once more. "What the hell, Byakuya?" Ichigo yelled back. "I didn't do anything! We just had a few drinks, thats all!"

Byakuya narrowed his eyes at Ichigo. "If you have so much as layed a finger on Rukia..."

Ichigo looked confused. "No way. I didn't do anything, like I said. She was a bit tipsy, so we took her back home and put her to bed, that's it, I swear!"

Byakuya sighed and let go of Ichigo, who looked at him with considerable surprise at the outburst. Byakuya was well known for being highly protective of Rukia, but nonetheless Ichigo was surprised to see him this angry over what had really been nothing. "Come on, she only had about three drinks, she's just a bit of a lightweight. She spent most of the night talking about you, anyway."

Byakuya's heart skipped a beat. She had been talking about him? He hid his surprise, however, and turned his back on the substitute, ignoring his surprised and confused expression. He walked almost the whole way to the Kuchiki manor, looking for Rukia, before having a change of heart and heading back to his office, changing direction several times before eventually shutting himself back up in his quarters, and resuming his favourite route for pacing the office. Somehow in this process he had entirely forgotten that he had been meant to arrive at training half an hour ago. A knock on the door and Renji's voice yelling at him reminded him of that fact. "Oi, taichou. You there? What's goin' on? Trainin' started half an hour ago!"

Byakuya glared at the door. Yes, Renji was completely right, he had completely forgotten about training in his annoyance at Ichigo and his confused thoughts about Rukia. If he kept on at this rate, he would be in trouble with Yamamoto for neglecting his duties. Gritting his teeth momentarily, he joined Renji and began to walk rapidly back towards the training ground.

"Er, taichou," Renji ventured, "is somethin' wrong? Not like you to be late for trainin'"

Byakuya sighed quietly. "No, Renji, for the last time, nothing is wrong. Even if it was, I would not wish to discuss it with you, nor anyone else for that matter. I apologise for my lateness, I was detained unexpectedly."

The confused look on Renji's face remained, but the questions, mercifully, stopped. Training was uneventful, entirely average. Renji singed his eyebrows with a very poor shakaho, nothing new there. It barely even served as a distraction for Byakuya, although he tried to focus as work was very important to him. After training, he dismissed everyone and walked back to his quarters, almost an air of dejection about him. He pulled open the door to his room, absent mindedly slipping off his haori and hanging it up, beginning to remove the rest of his uniform before he realised that Rukia was sitting at his desk. His eyes widened and he dropped his kenseikan in shock. "Rukia!" he exclaimed, for once not managing to keep the surprise out of his voice. "What on earth are you doing here?"

Rukia looked a little nervous in case he was angry with her for entering his quarters uninvited, but the door had not been locked and she had decided to wait for him to get home. "My apologies for surprising you, nii-sama. I merely wanted to see you about something, and you weren't here, so I thought I'd wait. I can leave if you wish."

"No, that won't be necessary," he replied, more calmly. "What is it you wished to say?"

Rukia sighed and played with her hair a little anxiously. Byakuya couldn't help finding it simultaneously cute and quite sexy. "I saw Ichigo earlier. He told me you were angry with him about last night."

Byakuya frowned. "It was a slight misunderstanding, that's all. I overreacted a little. I thought he had tried to take advantage of you."

Rukia blushed a little. "No! Nii-sama... nothing happened at all. Ichigo would never do such a thing!"

Byakuya looked at the floor for a moment. "Sorry, Rukia."

"Please do not apologise. I know you were just trying to protect me."

A horrible awkward silence engulfed the room again. Rukia sat at the desk, looking up at Byakuya with wide eyes and an adoring expression, whilst he stood awkwardly, silently, his eyes boring into her. "I... Rukia, I was not just trying to protect you," he began, uncomfortably.

"I don't understand," she replied softly.

Another minute of silence hung heavy in the air between them. "Rukia, I was angry that I thought Kurosaki had taken advantage of you."

"I understand, nii-sama."

Another pause. Byakuya clenched and unclenched his fists. "No. I was angry because I didn't want Kurosaki to have you."

Rukia looked back at him with a little confusion. "I don't..."

"Because I wanted you for myself," he finished, glaring at the floor, unable to look Rukia in the eye, his pride and dignity simultaneously in tatters.

Rukia sat in shocked silence for several minutes; what seemed like hours to Byakuya. "Nii-sama?"

Byakuya gritted his teeth. He willed Rukia to do something, anything other than look up at him with the same confused, slightly shocked expression, repeating his name in the same bewildered tone. Well there it was, he had said it. In his own, rather awkward way, he had confessed his feelings for Rukia. There was no going back now, even if he had been the sort of person who could have retracted it with a casual, 'only joking'. Eventually, she got up from her seat and walked over to him, looking him directly in the eyes. "Nii-sama, what do you mean?" she asked, her slim body shaking slightly. Barely managing not to shiver himself, he took Rukia's small hands in his own, gripping them tightly. "Rukia, I love you," he managed, despite his stomach tying itself in a knot at the same moment.

Rukia blinked like a deer in headlights. "You...? Nii-sama? I..."

Byakuya couldn't stand it anymore, throwing caution, pride and pretty much everything else to the wind, he leant in and kissed Rukia. A tentative kiss at first, barely a brushing of lips, but as she did not resist, he began to move in closer and kiss her more passionately. Slowly but surely, after a few moments of shocked hesitation, Rukia began to return the kiss, her lips moving against his, her tongue responding to his, her body pressing closer to him. Overwhelmed with joy at the fact that Rukia was kissing him back, he moved his hands to her shoulders and ran them down her arms, pulling her into a tight almost desperate embrace as the kiss became more passionate.

After a few moments he reluctantly broke away from her and looked at her for a moment, before looking away, uncomfortable at meeting her eye.

"Nii-sama..." she mumbled, a little embarrassed.

"Rukia, I would prefer it if you would not call me that, given what just happened," he said, stiffly.

Rukia blushed. "Sorry nii- I mean... Byakuya-sama."

Byakuya frowned a little. "You can drop the 'sama' as well," he added.

"Yes, n- B-byakuya s... Byakuya."

An awkward moment passed, where the two looked at each other, then at the floor, then back at each other, both aching for a rerun of the previous moment, but both too proud and nervous to be the one to make a move.

"I'm sorry, Rukia," Byakuya said, softly. "I shouldn't have done that. It was highly inappropriate, I apologise."

Rukia blushed, then frowned. "No need to apologise. I... I enjoyed it too," she said in a soft whisper.

Byakuya's insides turned to mush at these words. Unable to control his own actions any further, he pulled her into another passionate kiss, his hands now running hungrily over her body, her body responding to his, pressing closer, her hands on his arms, kissing back with almost equal intensity. Breaking apart for a moment, he looked into her eyes, his own filled with a hunger and desire that Rukia had never seen in his expression before. "Rukia..." he muttered, his voice hoarse with desire.

"Bya...Byakuya," she stammered back, uncomfortable at using his name without honorific, not to mention the highly unusual and unexpected situation she had found herself in. Surprise barely covered the range of emotions and feelings that were coursing through her body. On the one hand shock, surprise, nervousness, worry, confusion and disorientation; on the other, a long buried feeling of longing and a newly awakened sensation of desire. The lust consuming her body was an entirely new feeling, and one that she certainly had not associated with her nii-sama before. The feeling of his lips on hers sent warmth flooding throughout her body, and his body against hers incited a feeling of comfort and security, but simultaneously an aching feeling of lust and need that she had not thought her inexperinced body capable of. The pink flush in Rukia's cheeks, the quickness of her breath and the way that she looked at him told Byakuya all he needed to know and more. It was a look he had never, never seen in Hisana's eyes. A flushed, excited longing, that he had never hoped or dreamed of seeing in Rukia's face, but one that made him dizzy and almost nauseous with desire.

His dark, penetrating eyes looked down into her wide, midnight coloured ones, and without further words or thoughts, he took her somewhat roughly by the arm and shunpoed into his bedroom, pushing her back onto the bed without hesitation. Rukia flinched, looking surprised at the unexpectedly forthright and rough treatment she was receiving at the hands of someone whom until recently she had thought of as a superior and a brother, not as a sexual being. In fact, she was surprised and even a little alarmed at how much she enjoyed being treated this way by him. She had always admired him, been impressed by his strength and nobility, and felt protected by him. It had always been he who was the stronger one, the superior one, and she had always been happy and comfortable with this role, although she had not realised that she craved for this dominance to extend any further in her life.

Neither of them said a word. There were no words which could express the feelings they both had. Confusion, fear, lust and happiness all mixed together into some nameless emotion, that rendered them both incapable of thinking of anything other than that moment, that place and their two bodies. Byakuya knelt on the side of the bed, grasping Rukia's two slim, fragile wrists in his strong hands and pushing them back behind her head. Part of Rukia was frightened. She had never been treated roughly like this by a man before, and her instant response was to fight back, escape from the harsh touches and aggressive hold; but simulaneously she trusted her nii-sama more than anyone else in the world, and somehow having him hold her down like this was more than she could ever have dreamed of. His hands sliding her light kimono up over her thighs was strange, but also incredible. Although there was unease on her face, there was a spark in her eyes that betrayed the passionate, animalistic side of her personality that she so often had to reign in in her role as a shinigami, and in her relationship with her usually formal and stoical adoptive brother.

Feeling the slim girl's body shiver slightly beneath him, Byakuya hesitated for a moment, realisation of what he was doing suddenly hitting him. He felt as if holding back from her for even a moment would make him explode with desire, but simultaneously he knew that doing what he wanted to do would be a mistake that there was no going back from. He was just a few seconds away from what he wanted, needed, craved with a burning passion and intensity he had not experienced for years, but he couldn't rid himself of the nagging voice at the back of his mind, telling him that going through this would jeopardise far more than just his relationship with Rukia. The shame that it could potentially bring on the Kuchiki house, the damage it could do to his position and reputation. He had rushed into this. It would hurt both him and Rukia. Looking at the confused, flushed face of the slim girl lying on the bed underneath him, Hisana's face flashed back into his mind. He couldn't betray her memory in this way, he couldn't give up everything just for the sake of an animalistic need that he had thought beneath him.

"What's wrong?" Rukia said, softly, looking slightly embarrassed.

Byakuya frowned and grit his teeth together, desperately trying to regain control over his body. "I'm sorry Rukia," he muttered, his breathing still a little heavy, but his face regaining it's unreadable expression. "This should never have happened. I don't know how I can apologise to you for this behaviour. I have truly let you down as a friend and as a person." He got back up off the bed, straightening his uniform and pushing back his hair.

Rukia lay on the bed, legs slightly apart, cheeks pink, hair slightly stuck to her face with sweat and her kimono up around her thighs. She had never felt more confused, more helpless or more embarrassed than she did at that moment. "I'm sorry," she stammered, pulling her kimono back over her legs and getting up as quickly as possible, fleeing out of the room as fast as she could, barely giving a momentary glance back at Byakuya, who had his hands over his face; a picture of despair and consternation.

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:O ok, I bet you thought you were going to get a lemon there. I thought you were too, but I changed my mind at the last moment, just like Byakuya. I just thought I'd cause him a little more mental anguish, hope you're not all too annoyed with me! Reviews, por favor! More chapters soon, I promise.


	4. Chapter 4

Hello and happy new year, everyone! Another massive thanks for all the new reviews, they make me very happy. Sorry it took me a few extra days to get this up: new years celebrations and work have gotten in the way, plus this took me a bit longer to write, but here ya go, and I hope you like it. I have to apologise a wee bit for if this story isn't 100% believable, or if some parts are a little rushed, I'm not perfect and getting Byakuya and Rukia to actually get it on requires a bit of poetic license, I hope it doesn't disappoint too much. Yes, there is lemon coming up, so be warned. :D

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It was ten o'clock at night. Byakuya was sitting on the edge of his bed, still in his shinigami robes but not wearing his captian's haori or kenseikan. He sat still in silence, head in his hands, unmoving for what seemed like a ridiculous amount of time. Every now and then, he would get up and pace the room for several minutes, before returning to his sitting position. Occasionally, to make a change, he would punch the door or the wall, hard enough to hurt his fist, although not hard enough to do any damage to the door, or to lessen the anger and guilt that he felt. How could he even begin to come to terms with what had happened within the last few weeks, and more so, within the last few hours? The entire way he had behaved had been completely out of character for him, and he couldn't find a rational explanation for why he would act in such a way. Byakuya had always been known in the Seireitei for his stoicism and his closed, almost cold persona. He'd been reknowned for his work ethic, his bravery, his skill and perhaps most of all, his impassivity in the face of anything that ever happened. Yes, this was how he was known among most of the shinigami, many of whom feared him and most of whom greatly respected and admired him; not least his direct subordinate, Abarai Renji.

But there were a few among them, mainly a few of the captains, in particular Ukitake, Yamamoto and Kyoraku; who remembered a rather different side to his personality. The hot headed, short tempered and rather impulsive young man, who had struggled to fit into the formal and obedient demeanour expected of him. The young Byakuya had been rather different from how he was now, although he had gradually learned to suppress his more irascible side, in favour of the cool attitude he now possessed. Nonetheless, a little of that more impetuous and unpredictable side had remained, although it was only evident under rare circumstances. One such occasion had been when he first met Hisana. He had known that it was unorthodox for someone of his status to marry a poor girl from the Rukongai, he had known that it was frowned upon by the elders and many of the other nobles, but he had fallen so wildly and deeply in love with her that nothing would change his mind. Nothing would stop him from claiming that delicate, beautiful girl for his own. Then again, after she had died, he had taken Rukia into the family against all the wishes and advice of the other nobles. He would have done anything to see that his Hisana's final wishes were fulfilled, even to the extent of breaking the rules. Of course, after this he had sworn on his parents' graves never to break the rules again. He had sworn this, out of his firm and unshakeable belief in the importance of keeping to the rules, of setting an example to the younger generations. He had sworn it, and he fully intended to uphold his promise. His intentions were nothing other than to keep to the rules, fulfil his promises and to maintain his reputation and position.

But there were always the lingering remnants of his firey and passionate side. He had always struggled to reconcile these two sides of himself. His true personality and the way he wished to be, his passion with his beliefs, his animalistic nature with the expectations held for him. And his "better" nature had always won. He had even gone to the lengths of almost allowing Rukia to be killed, simply because of his unflinching belief in the rules, and doing what he considered to be right. This was a thought that had haunted him constantly ever since. The thought that he had almost sent Rukia to her execution, simply because of his desire to stick to the laws of the Seireitei.

All these thoughts and many more troubled him as he tried to calm himself down and to forget what had happened between him and Rukia. He had thought that he had completely conquered his impulsive nature and his lusts and desires in favour of becoming the man he truly wanted to be. He had thought that he had completely eradicated all traces of weakness and base desire from his body, and mind. He was sure that he would have succeeded completely had it not been for Rukia. Rukia who so very much resembled the one woman he had truly loved and desired; while simultaneously having a personality and spirit that he had never seen before, but that he admired greatly. In short, Byakuya was a shinigami, he was a captain, he was a noble and he was an upholder of the law. But he was also, first and foremost, a man. And a man who had certain needs and wants, like any other.

True this may have been, but he still couldn't forgive himself for his behaviour or his thoughts. Even so, he no longer knew how to deal with the situation. It had gone too far, any hope he had had of pushing it out of his mind and getting on with his life was long since gone. He had stopped himself from going any further with Rukia, even though he had wanted to more than he had ever wanted anything in his life before, but he had not stopped himself soon enough. Impulsivity, lust and attraction had overcome him, and his common sense had seemingly abandoned him. Now it was too late to go back, too late to change anything. Perhaps, he reasoned with himself, perhaps for him and Rukia to be together wasn't so wrong. It had been 15 years since Hisana's death; there was a time and a place for him to move on from mourning her, and there was no reason why it could not be accepted for him to begin another relationship. Perhaps. Perhaps it could be accepted. But could he accept it himself? He had made a promise; a promise to his parents, but more importantly to himself, that he would never again go against what he knew was right. To go against this for such a low reason would be something he could not forgive himself for.

Eventually, at around 2am, he fell asleep, still in his clothes, slumped sideways on top of his bed, his forehead creased with worries and preoccupations, occasionally muttering in his sleep and tossing and turning erratically.

Meanwhile, in another part of the Seireitei, in fact in one of the bedrooms at the 13th division barracks, as she couldn't face going anywhere near the Kuchiki manor, Rukia was sat on the side of her bed, her eyes slightly red from crying and her hair tousled from playing distractedly with it. She had run those few moments with her Nii-sama through in her head so many times that the real version of events was becoming ever more hazy and confused, and she was starting to question whether or not it had even really happened. Forgetting for a moment, how uncharacteristic such an action was of Byakuya, it was also very much uncharacteristic of her. She had never been very much given to romance. In fact, she was barely even aware of some of the crushes that her fellow shinigami had on her. For one thing, Renji had been more or less in love with Rukia since he had first met her in the Rukongai as a child, and this had developed into lust as they had aged and Rukia's physical attractiveness had increased. In addition, Ichigo's feelings for her had been known to extend beyond friendship and admiration, verging on a crush at least; not to mention the admiration of other members of her division and elsewhere. It was unsurprising, as although she was petite, she was very beautiful and graceful, as well as being admired for her skill and strength as a shingami. Nonetheless, Rukia herself seemed blissfully unaware of her own charms, and misunderstood Renji and Ichigo's affections as mere friendship, never thinking of herself as someone feminine and attractive like Rangiku or Orihime. To add to that, she had never had much interest in men either; she held a deep affection and fondness for Renji, but this had never developed as far as sexual feelings or real love. In the same vein, she cared very much for Ichigo, but had never really thought much about him as a potential suitor. Her job and life as a shinigami were what was important to her, and she was more or less willing to forget romance and love in favour of duty and friendship.

But was she? Was she really such a good and innocent girl that she had no feelings of desire at all? No need for love, affection, sexual satisfaction? She sighed heavily and resumed playing with a strand of her hair. She had never felt a strong sexual interest in anyone before; but was she starting to feel this now? Her cheeks flushed as she recalled Byakuya's soft but strong and firm hands gripping her thighs. Some of the sensations and feelings she had experienced in that moment began to creep back into her body: a pink flush rose in her cheeks, her breathing became slightly more rapid, her heart beat faster, an ache began to make itself known in her stomach, and again a little lower. This made Rukia blush even more; she was having such thoughts and feelings about her _nii-sama!_ But then again, he was no real, blood relation to her. And he had been the one to initiate what had happened. Hadn't he even said he loved her? Or had she imagined that? Surely she must have imagined it, as she was certain that wasn't something he would ever say. "Come on, Rukia, this is getting ridiculous," she said, out loud, chiding herself for her own immature behaviour. Surely this was something expected of a silly school girl in the real world, not of someone who knew that other things were far more important than simple emotions.

Shaking her head in an attempt at freeing herself from the rather inappropriate images of Byakuya that she was beginning to picture in her mind, she finished getting undressed. However, as she slid of her robes, the fabric sliding softly down her bare skin, she began to think again of the feeling of Byakuya's hands running over her skin. His hands on her inner thighs, sliding up between her legs, his thumb running momentarily over her most sensitive parts, sending hot shivers of delight up her entire body. Briefly, tentatively, she moved an exploratory hand across her own body; across the slim waist and down to her hips, thighs... momentarily both curious and even slightly aroused at the thoughts of his hands moving over her, his fingers teasing her and causing her pleasure she had never imagined. For a brief moment, her fingers ran across the area that Byakuya had touched before; her eyes widening with surprise at the intensity of the feelings of pleasure that instantly began to radiate from such a small area. Gasping slightly, she pulled her hand back, shocked and embarrassed by what she was doing. Pink, flustered and uncomfortable, she hurriedly got into bed, trying to pretend to herself that she had no desire whatsoever to continue the exploration she had begun, that she had no urge whatsoever to feel Byakuya's hands on her body once more, absolutely no craving for his naked body against hers, to see him look at her like that again, eyes clouded with lust, lips parted, panting with arousal... Biting her lip and taking a deep breath, Rukia turned over in bed and finally forced the thoughts from her mind, managing to think instead about kidou spells, eventually managing to fall into an uneasy sleep.

Byakuya and Rukia did not see each other again for several days. Whether this was by Byakuya's intention, Rukia's, or just by chance, their paths simply did not cross for a little over a week. In fact, this was quite unusual; other than when one or other of them was send on business to the real world, or elsewhere, they normally saw each other most days for one reason or another. It seemed that Byakuya was managing quite well at acting as if nothing had happened. Rukia, on the other hand, was not doing so well. She was twitchy, nervous, irritable and prone to crying at little provocation, as well as spending large amounts of time alone in her room. Whenever Renji or anyone else tried to ask her what was wrong, they were answered with a snappy, "nothing", and couldn't get anything else other than scowls out of her. Renji, despite seeming somewhat dimwitted, was actually smart enough to get the impression that Byakuya seeming slightly off, and Rukia acting more hormonal than he had ever seen her before, may have something to do with each other. Fortunately, perhaps, the idea that this "something" could be anything even remotely sexual, had not even vaguely occurred to him, but nonetheless, he was puzzled.

The next moment when the two Kuchikis were, by necessity, in the same room together, came at Rukia's promtion ceremony. By this time, the other two captain's positions had been filled, and all four of the newly promoted were called to a ceremony to officially inaugurate them into their new positions. As well as Rukia being moved up to vice-captain of the 13th and Shuuhei being instated as 9th division captain, the 3rd and 5th squad vacancies had been filled, respectively, by Ishikawa Heikichi, a young but skilled and ambitious member of the 12th squad, and Ikkaku Madarame, the former 3rd seat of the 11th division, whose bankai abilities had marked him out as a possibility for a captain's position. Such an occasion was rare and very important, meaning that all captains (and vice captains) were expected to attend. It wasn't something Byakuya could possibly miss, especially since one of the four people being inaugurated was his adopted sister. Resigining himself to the necessity, he pulled on his haori and captain's attire and made sure to arrive on time for the occasion.

The ceremony was a typically over-formal event, as was anything arranged by Yamamoto, although with a rather more lively party, organised by Renji, Rangiku and Kira, for afterwards. Byakuya took his usual place in line with the other captains throughout the formalities of the inauguration. As usual, he stood between Kyoraku and Unohana, but for once, he wasn't paying huge amounts of attention to anything anyone was was saying or doing. His eyes were fixed the whole time on the petite 13th division vice-captain. He watched the way she smiled shyly and her cheeks flushed a little as everyone looked at her, applauding her as she was signed in as vice-captain; but he also kept his eye on every little movement and look that she made through the whole event. Every time she brushed her hair out of her face, shifted from one leg to the other, sighed or smiled... Rukia herself couldn't help finding herself embarrassed but also slightly pleased and flattered, by the way that Byakuya looked at her. Her face flushed and she felt warm and slightly dizzy just looking at him, her heart racing every time their eyes met even for a brief moment. At the same time, she felt worried and nervous; she was sure that everyone in the room must be able to sense the sexual tension between them, notice the way that he was looking at her and her own reactions to his gaze. But it seemed that no one did notice; everyone was focussed on the 3 new captains, more than anything else, and no one expected to see anything unusual or interesting in Byakuya or Rukia's behavour, so they simply paid no attention.

Even so, the dinner afterwards was a very awkward occasion. Byakuya and Rukia had been automatically seated next to each other. Close enough to hear each others breathing, close enough to touch... Byakuya reacted to the situation by talking to everyone else around him, but ignoring Rukia, who proceeded to do exactly the same. However, by the time the main course was served, the others had drifted off into their own conversations and the two Kuchikis were forced to make uncomfortable smalltalk:

"Congratulations on your new position, Rukia," Byakuya said stiffly, even more formally than usual.

"Thank you, nii-sama," she replied, equally formally, somewhat enjoying the uncomfortable look on his face at how she addressed him.

There were a few moments of silence between them where Rukia stared at, but did not touch, her food. "I hope you will be successful as a vice-captain," he continued, struggling to find anything to say that would not give away anything that had happened between them.

"Thank you, nii-sama," she replied, "I hope I will not let you or anyone else down."

More silence. "I... Rukia, if you need any help or advice, I hope you will be able to come to me..."

"I hope so too," she said, giving him a rather meaningful look. Byakuya squirmed slightly at the expression on Rukia's face; it was an expectant look, as if she expected him to refer to the events of the previous week, maybe to apologise, or even to repeat some of the sentiments he had expressed then. Instead, he merely nodded, politely.

"Excuse me," he said quietly,getting up from the table and walking quickly and quietly into one of the adjoining rooms. Rukia sat quietly and sadly at the table alone for a few moments, debating with herself whether or not it was acceptable to go after him, before doing it anyway. She found him standing out on the balcony, looking out over the gardens below.

"Byakuya?" she asked, softly.

"Rukia? What on earth are you doing here?" he demanded.

"I came to see if you were alright. Is something wrong?"

"Rukia," he muttered, his voice cracking slightly. "I can't be around you at the moment. You... you know why. I've already decided that nothing can happen between us. I'd like you to leave."

Ignoring the voice that told her to obey him and walk away, she instead pressed the matter a little further, "but the other night..."

"The other night was a mistake," he replied softly, although his eyes told a different story. "I... Rukia, I... you know how I feel about you, but you also know that I can't take things any further with you."

Rukia looked up at him, a certain innocence in her eyes, but also a hint of something else, a hint of desire and the strong will that made her so different from her older sister. That slight spark in her eyes renewed and redoubled the ache in Byakuya's chest and in his lower regions. He was shaking slightly as he turned away from her, looking back out the window. Unexpectedly boldly, instead of leaving, Rukia stepped forwards and stood next to him, her hand resting on the metal railing, touching briefly against his, sending a jolt of electricity through each of their bodies. Pressing her lips together, gathering up every scrap of courage in her body, she put her hand on his. Turning around, shocked, his body reeling from her touch, he looked down at the beautiful girl looking up at him, her eyes full of a passion he had never seen in Hisana's or anyone else's. Silently, barely even looking at her, he gripped her hand in his, pulling her closer to him, pushing her back against the railing behind her as he leaned in to kiss her. Once he had felt the rush of excitement and joy that came as his lips touched hers, he couldn't stop himself from leaning in closer, pressing his body against hers, his tongue meeting hers, his hands running down her sides, gripping her arms, stifling heavy gasps of arousal. "Rukia," he panted, as they came apart for a moment. He was starting to lose sight of all the reasons he had told himself this couldn't happen. The passionate, excited look she gave him back removed every last trace of self discipline he had and he moved back in to continue the kiss, this time more heated and passionate than before.

Losing track of where he was and what was happening, his hands moved hurriedly to the front of her kimono, undoing it and pulling it open to better access her body, better touch, stroke and massage her small breasts, taking the raised nipples between his fingers and teasing them slightly, caressing and pulling them gently until Rukia moaned softly, her eyes sliding closed, her head tilting back and her lower half pushing into him in a very clear message: 'I want you'. This excited Byakuya beyond anything he had experienced for years, if ever. Feverish with desire, no longer thinking straight in any way, he moved his fingers hurriedly to her underwear, slipping his fingers underneath and caressing her rhythmically until she whimpered, groaned and gasped with pleasure, rocking her hips back and forth, a slave to the need for pleasure and release. In response, Byakuya's breathing intensified into heavy gasps, his cock straining against his hakama. Frantically, he moved his hands to undo his own clothing, releasing his aching member from its restraints and rubbing it slightly against Rukia, between her legs, causing them both to pant and moan from the sensation.

"Rukia, I want you now," he grunted, in an extreme statement of the obvious; as a large quantity of his blood was redirected from his brain to another, lower area.

Rukia didn't respond, but pulled him closer to her by his clothes, looking up at him with a surprisingly demanding look in her eyes. This was more than Byakuya could resist; roughly pulling her legs apart he pushed himself in closer to her, the head of his unbearably hardened cock pressing against her agonisingly inviting wetness. Panting as if he had run a marathon, he pushed against her, desperately needing to feel her tightness around him. It was at this moment that a sound came from outside the door. A knock and a voice: "Taichou? Is everything ok? You've been away for a long time. Have you seen Rukia?"

Byakuya had never cursed Renji to the same extent he did at that moment. Stifling a heavy groan into Rukia's shoulder, he pulled away, hurriedly pulling his clothing back into place. Still flushed and gasping, Rukia did the same, looking anxiously at Byakuya. Somehow managing to make himself look remarkably presentable, Byakuya walked towards the door. "Come in, Renji," he said, smoothly. Renji came in, looking a little confused and nervous. He looked even more confused when he saw a rather dishevelled and flustered looking Rukia standing a few feet away looking nervous. "I was just congratulating Rukia," Byakuya said, his usual calmness back in his voice. "I'll accompany you back to the dinner. Rukia, we will continue this discussion later, back at the house." He said, giving her a meaningful look for a second, before leaving the room with Renji, leaving her completely disorientated and bewildered, staring after him, trying to get her breathing and heart rate back to normal.

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Oh no! I'm evil. But don't worry, this will be continued! Hope you liked it, please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions or even requests. Ps, this is my first proper lemony story, so I'd like to know if it went well or horribly!


	5. Chapter 5

Hello everyone, sorry about the slight wait, but I am revising for exams as well as this and other stuff! This chapter will contain lemon, so I hope you like it! I'd like to thank everyone for the reviews, they are great and you are all awesome readers! A particular thank you to everyone who has been reading from the beginning and cheering me up each day with reviews! Ok, on to the action ;)

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Rukia was in her bedroom. It had been three hours since she had left the dinner, and there was still no sign of Byakuya. She was almost dazed with confused emotions brought on by the seemingly unbelievable events of the last few weeks, but more importantly what had just happened, or almost happened, at the dinner with Byakuya. When she had tried to sneak out to go home, not wanting to run into anyone after what had just happened, and rather hoping that Byakuya would also make his way back to her room, she had been unfortunate enough to run into a slightly inebriated Rangiku.

"He-ey, Rukia-chan! Where are you running off to so early? Are you coming to the party, everyone's waiting for you!"

Rukia struggled to hide her annoyance. In her bewilderment, she had completely forgotten that some of her friends were holding a congratulatory party in her honour, and even so, she was far more interested in getting back to what she had started about half an hour ago. Either way, Rangiku nagging her into playing truth or dare and downing shots was definitely not what she wanted.

"Oh, hi Rangiku-san," she said, trying to be friendly but not too friendly. "I just got out of the dinner with the captains. I'm kinda tired though, I was planning on going home."

Rangiku looked shocked and slightly offended. "No way Rukia-chan! The party's just getting started, it won't be fun at all if you don't turn up. There's sake!"

Rukia sighed. It would be really rude of her not to show up to her own party. Perhaps she could just show her face and then sneak off without causing too much suspicion. "Ok, sounds fun," she lied, "I'll come along for a bit then." Rangiku grinned and put her arm tipsily around Rukia's shoulder, steering her off towards the 10th division barracks where the party was being held.

When they arrived, Rukia saw that the barracks had been decorated with streamers, balloons and confetti, with a banner saying "Well done Rukia and Shuuhei!" Most of the vice-captains and many other people were there, laughing, drinking and playing silly games. Rukia hoped that they would soon be too drunk to notice her leaving as soon as possible. However after not more than about ten seconds she had already found herself surrounded by people offering her congratulations, and drinks. She soon found herself balancing a glass of sake, two shots and an alcopop that had been thrust on her by various people. "Hey, Rukia! Come and down some shots with us," Shuuhei called over. He had obviously already caught up with most of the others and looked a little unsteady on his feet.

Rukia raised an eyebrow. Surely a captain shouldn't be acting in this way? But she shrugged it off, deciding that downing a couple of shots was the best way to get everyone off her case and for them to get on with the party and forget about trying to get her to drink various strange concoctions. She smiled and came over, holding out her shot, ready to drink it in unison with the others. The group all necked their vodka shots simultaneously, cheering Rukia as she swallowed the vile, burning liquid. "Waheyyy, another one!" a surprisingly cheerful Kira cheered, gesturing to the other shot she was carrying. Sighing and resigning herself to her fate, she complied, beginning to feel a little tipsy as she did so. At this point, somone decided to start a game of some kind, which distracted the others for long enough for Rukia to pretend she was going off to greet some other friends. In fact, she quickly handed her remaining drinks to a very dazed looking Iba, before sneaking out the back way, any sound she made drowned out by a loud chant of "down it, down it," from some of the other shinigami. Sighing at their idiocy, she ran back home as quickly as she could; not quite as quickly as usual, since the vodka was managing to make her movements a little less graceful than usual!

An hour later, three hours after she had originally set off home, she was in her room, too nervous to even try to lie down or go to bed, even though she was beginning to suspect that she had either missed Byakuya altogether, or he had decided against the continuation of their "conversation", and wasn't planning on coming at all. Perhaps that was it. Perhaps he had decided not to continue what they had started. Either sense had returned to him and he had realised that it was a bad idea, or she had somehow disappointed him and he felt that she was too inexperienced or unattractive to be worth his time. Or what if something had happened to him, even. She began to worry, going over all the possible reasons why he hadn't turned up, none of them very encouraging to her. She had almost resigned herself to the idea that it had all been a mistake and Byakuya was never going to speak to her again, when there came a knock at the door. A deceptively polite knock, although at 1 in the morning, there couldn't possibly be any polite intentions behind it. Her heart literally hammering, her hands shaking, her called out, "who is it?"

"It's me," came back a voice she could not mistake.

"Come in," she said, trying to keep her voice from shaking as much as she was.

The door handle turned, and in came Byakuya, looking somewhat less composed than usual.

"What happened?" she asked, looking surprised.

"Never mind that, Rukia," he replied, stoically. "I believe we had some unfinished business to attend to."

Rukia shivered. The way he said it was so matter of fact that she almost questioned what he was there for, but the intense hunger in his eyes left her in no doubt. She nodded quietly, not really knowing what to say or do. Fortunately for her, there was no need for her to do or say anything, as Byakuya swiftly took her in his arms and kissed her passionately, almost violently. A kiss that had absolutely no innocence or sweetness about it at all, simply pure, unbridled lust. Rukia was taken aback, but returned the kiss with equal fervour. As they kissed, Byakuya took hold of the sash around Rukia's waist and pulled it away with unequivocal force, gripping the front of her kimono and tugging it open with such roughness that it tore, although Rukia couldn't have cared less. Fumbling with the front of his own garment, Byakuya simply pulled it open, not even bothering to fully take off either his or Rukia's clothing. Neither of them had any need or desire for words, tenderness, gentleness... Byakuya pushed Rukia back onto the bed, supporting himself above her, barely breaking apart from her for a few seconds in the process. The way Byakuya kissed her was almost vicious; he wanted to possess her, to overpower her, to own her body. To Rukia it was slightly frightening but also more exciting than anything else she had ever experienced.

Totally negating any form of hesitation or nicety, Byakuya pulled Rukia's kimono off her fully, gaining access to her petite, but to him perfect, breasts. Roughly, animalistically, he used his right hand to massage her left breast, tugging gently at the nipple, earning a heated moan from Rukia, then simultaneously taking her other nipple in his mouth, gently nibbling and teasing at it, causing Rukia to emit a long, uncontrolled moan, pushing her hips up into his, her cheeks rapidly turning pink and her pupils dilating. This response was enough for Byakuya to know that Rukia wanted him as much as he wanted her. This was all the information he needed. Shaking slightly, overwhelmed with desire for her, he pulled the material away from his body, allowing his fully erect cock to press against her, making her squirm and gasp, willing him to push it inside her, although he seemed to be taking his time, savouring her moans and gasps. Finally, however, listening to Rukia's aroused breathing and looking at her perfect, flushed body lying there waiting for him was more than he could endure. Unable to resist for a second longer, he thrust himself inside her; trying to be gentle, but so excited he could hardly hold back. The feeling of being inside her was, to put it simply, overwhelming. It had been years since he had felt this sensation, but even so, he didn't recall it ever feeling quite this good. A soft groan escaped his own lips just at the tightness enveloping his sensitive member. Rukia herself murmured quietly, looking up at him, too turned on to be nervous anymore, beginning to move her hips slightly, enjoying the friction this created against her clitoris.

Feeling Rukia move even slightly against him sent blood rushing to Byakuya's cock, creating a tightness in his stomach and a deep aching need to thrust into her hard and fast until he came. Panting heavily, his hair sticking slightly to his face with sweat, he began to move into her, back and forth, slow and rhythmic. Rukia moaned and pushed back up against him with every thrust, urging him to go faster. Byakuya grunted and gripped the sheets underneath him, pausing for a moment. If Rukia didn't slow down a little he was going to blow his load right there and then, which wouldn't exactly be the experience he wanted. Every nerve in his body begged him to go faster, begged him to just _fuck_ her as he so badly wanted and needed to; but his mind told him to slow down, keep it going a little longer, tease Rukia until she too was begging for release.

Breathing deeply, trying to keep himself relatively calm, he continued to rock back and forth, grinding his hips in circles against hers, causing maximum friction against her clitoris, eliciting continual moans and gasps of pleasure from Rukia. Panting harder, he moved his attention back to her breasts, caressing and stroking them whilst simultaneously trying not to look, as the sight turned him on more than he could currently handle. Fortunately it had the desired effect, as Rukia's breathing got even heavier, her moans became more heated and she writhed underneath him, her body silently begging him for more. Finally, he allowed himself to thrust a little deeper, a little harder, allowing himself the movement and friction he needed. Rukia's 'mmm's and 'aah's of arousal became more and more frequent, driving Byakuya crazy. Losing control completely he began to thrust into her harder and faster, his movements becoming more erratic and less controlled. Rukia sighed and moaned lustfully with every one of his thrusts, waves of delirious pleasure flooding through her body, the sensation building and building until she thought she would explode. This was a feeling she had never encountered before, and an experience that she wouldn't have thought Byakuya would be the one to give to her, but nonetheless it felt so completely right that at this moment she didn't even question it. Hearing Rukia's breathing and soft moans building to a peak, Byakuya knew he too was not going to be able to hang on much longer. "Mmm, mmm, oh... Bya... oh, oh, oh..." Rukia moaned wildly, clearly no longer under any sort of control over what sounds she was making and with no regard whatsoever for who could possibly hear. His breathing insanely rapid and heavy, his heart beating harder than ever before, his whole body burning, a sensation of overwhelming tightness and heat in his lower regions, Byakuya gritted his teeth and grunted Rukia's name as he gave one final thrust, simultaneously moving his body against hers, sending her into uncontrollable spasms of pleasure unlike anything she had even imagined before. "Ahhhh," she cried out, a look of pure ecstasy on her face as her body tensed, before relaxing totally and more or less collapsing onto the bed. That was more than Byakuya could handle, and he gave in to the deliciously pleasurable sensations that were threatening to engulf him, giving a rather uncharacteristically undignified grunt as he climaxed hard.

He simply froze there on the spot for a moment, gasping as the pleasure spread throughout his body. The sense of relief and satisfaction was the same as he had experienced that one evening a few weeks ago, but the pleasure that came from that one simple moment was several times more intense and more incredible than anything he could have felt on his own, or even, dare he think it, with Hisana. They were totally silent for a few moments, save for the sound of panting, as the two of them recovered their breath and what was left of their dignity. "Rukia," Byakuya whispered, his mind still clouded by a post-orgasmic fog. Rukia simply lay there in a haze of bliss, a vague smile on her face as she looked up at him. They remained in the same position, looking at each other for a moment or two before Byakuya got up and sat at the side of the bed, not bothering to sort out his uniform which was pulled open in a highly undignified way, pushing his sweaty hair back out of his face.

"Byakuya?" Rukia said quietly, sitting up in the bed, pulling a sheet over herself to cover her erstwhile modesty.

He turned back to look at her. "Yes Rukia," he replied softly.

"You're not angry with me, are you?"

"Angry? No, of course not. I... Rukia I've been longing for this for longer than I can tell you. Rukia... I've closed myself off for so long I did not know I could feel this way about someone again..." Rukia blushed slightly and looked down at the sheet shyly. "But... I cannot see a way for this to work between us."

"But..." Rukia protested. "Byakuya-sama... I know that it would be difficult for us to be together, but... I don't think I will be able to forget my feelings for you. Not after this."

Byakuya sighed softly and sat on the bed next to Rukia, taking her hands in his. "I don't think I can forget my feelings for you either. But nor do I think that we can simply start up a relationship, given all the circumstances." Rukia nodded. "I'm afraid that for the meantime the best thing to do would be to pretend this never happened. What has happened between us, must for now, remain between us."

"Yes Byakuya," Rukia replied.

"I am afraid that I must return to my own quarters, or we will arouse rather a lot of suspicion," he said matter of factly, seemingly oblivious to the amount of noise their encounter had created. "Rukia... I'm sorry about how this has happened, however for now we must unfortunately keep it quiet. I will see you tomorrow."

Rukia nodded. "Yes," she whispered back.

Momentarily, Byakuya smiled at the rather innocent expression on Rukia's face. The fact that he knew that there was another, rather less innocent side to the young shinigami made her expression quite humourous. He gave her a quick peck on the cheek, lingering for a moment, not wanting to leave, but knowing he had to. "I love you, Rukia," he whispered, before he disappeared almost as suddenly as he had arrived.

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And, if I never look back at that ever again, I can pretend I didn't write it, so everything is fine! I know the ending of that chapter is a bit meh, but I sorta wanted to end it there and I couldn't really think of a good way of doing it. Anyway, two questions really, 1. Marks outta ten for the lemon? My first proper one really, so I'm a bit nervous about it! 2. I can leave it here or I can maybe try and give it another chapter to wrap it up a bit, what do you think? Cheers my dears x


	6. Chapter 6

Okay, my gorgeous ones... the results of the poll thus far are in, and it seems you would like another chapter... It was pretty close between more lemon and a happy ending. Sorry, but I'm not a huge happy ending fan, and its just not my style to write... So I've gone with the number one choice... lemon ;) I can only hope this satisfies the ByaRuki urge :D

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It had been 2 weeks since their encounter after the promotion ceremony. Much as both Byakuya and Rukia longed to see each other (and dare it be said, for a repeat of what had happened last time), duty and common sense told them that they had to be cautious in order to avoid drawing any unwanted attention to their relationship. Byakuya had been distracting himself with work, as usual. Rukia had found it a little harder to avoid thinking about her adoptive nii-sama, mainly due to Renji's persistent inquisitiveness: "Rukia, what did Kuchiki-taichou want to talk to you about the other day?", "Rukia, why were you and taichou talking in private at the dinner?", "Rukia, why did Kuchiki-taichou get so angry with Ichigo that one time?", "Rukia, is something going on with you and him?"...

Rukia had no satisfactory answer to any of these questions, and was as a result, doing her best to avoid Renji and a few of her other friends who were also above averagely nosy. Today, her retreat was the Kuchiki manor library, used mainly by Byakuya, occasionally by her, and now and then by Ginrei and a few other older Kuchikis. She figured this would be a good spot to hang out for a few hours without running into Renji or Ichigo and without causing anyone to question what she was up to, as reading had always been one of her hobbies, particularly when it involved reading up on useful shinigami training manuals. Certainly no one could criticise such a passtime. Rukia was beginning to get engrossed into a large kidou manual when a voice from close behind her startled her.

"Looking very studious today, Rukia," a cool and authoritative voice greeted her.

"Byakuya!" she gasped, realising he had managed to sneak up on her without her even slightly realising that anyone was there. Typical of his immense skill with shunpo that he would be able to sneak up on most lesser shinigami, even a newly appointed fukutaichou.

"Don't turn around, Rukia," he said in a low voice, unlike his usual business-like tone. It was still matter of fact and calm, but had a different quality to it, that sent shivers down Rukia's spine. "I believe you should call me Nii-sama in public, would that not be the polite thing to do?"

Rukia blushed, her innate sense of hierarchy never failing her. "Sorry, Nii-sama," she said hurriedly.

"Much better," Byakuya said softly, his voice in her ear, his breath tickling the side of her face and her neck slightly, sending a tingling feeling down her neck. Stepping a little closer to her, his body touching hers, he began to lightly caress her neck and stroke her hair. Rukia gasped in surprise and shock.

"Nii-sama!" she exclaimed. "Surely we can't do such things here. Anyone could walk in!"

Byakuya gave a slight, uncharacteristic smirk. "Rukia, do you know how often anyone but me comes into this library?"

"No..."

Byakuya did not reply, but continued to caress Rukia, moving his hands lower to touch and stroke her arms, moving his lips to the back of her neck, kissing her and whispering softly against her skin, sending shivers of pleasure down her spine.

"Nii-sama," she gasped, feeling his large erection pressing against her from behind. Her cheeks flushed a little in embarrassed excitement.

He moved his hands lower, to her waist, then to her hips, then sliding them underneath her kimono and hitching it up at the back. Rukia wriggled nervously. "Byakuya... I don't think we should do this here!"

Byakuya kissed the back of her neck and took her earlobe playfully between his teeth, tugging slightly and nibbling gently, making Rukia moan very quietly. He slid his hand up the inside of her left thigh, noting to himself with pleased amusement that she was already quite wet between her legs, allowing him to easily insert a finger, simultaneously circling her clitoris gently but persistently with his thumb, eliciting harsh, panting breaths and causing Rukia to bite her lip trying to stifle her moans.

"Bya...mmmhh," she groaned.

Satisfied that Rukia would not complain any further, he withdrew his hand and moved it to his own already aching member, easing himself into her in a swift, graceful movement. Rukia's eyes widened with surprised excitement. Half of her was terrified someone would walk in on them, doing something which was certainly very much against the laws of the Seireitei, regardless of who they were, which was an additional fact that would only make matters even worse. Nonetheless, Byakuya's expert touches were making her weak at the knees, and every nerve in her body pleaded for a repeat performance of the last time, silencing her conscience, at least temporarily.

Groaning softly in Rukia's ear, a sound that she would never have thought she would hear, Byakuya gripped the shelf in front of her for leverage and began to thrust. He had thought that nothing could feel better than the last time, but the added excitement of the slightly dangerous setting, and the different position seemed to increase the pleasure and excitement even further.

"You've no idea how long I've wanted to do this to you, Rukia," he growled softly in her ear, panting as he thrust hard but at a controlled pace.

Rukia didn't say anything. She didn't know what to say. She too had had more than her fair share of fantasies since the last time she had seen Byakuya, but she did not know how to voice them; she was inexperienced and even slightly shy when it came to sexual matters, and felt a bit uncomfortable about letting him know that she too had sexual thoughts and fantasies.

Byakuya moved his right hand to her waist, gripping her hard and pulling her back against him as he thrust, getting in deeper and harder as the nagging need for release built in his stomach and the overwhelming pleasure spread throughout his whole lower body. Every movement was one step closer to ecstasy and he struggled not to groan aloud with how good it felt. Nonetheless, he couldn't allow himself to come until he had given Rukia the pleasure that he wanted to show her; pleasure he had never been able to give Hisana, but that he knew he was more than capable of giving a woman. Slowing his breathing a little and controlling his thrusts, he moved rhythmically against Rukia, responding to the quickness of her breath and the quiet moaning sounds she was trying not to make, but making nonetheless. Every gasp and sound she made told him where she liked to be touched, how quick or slow she liked him to move and exactly how hard she liked to be fucked. Trouble was, the more pleasure he gave to Rukia the move she moaned and squirmed, and the more turned on he became, thus making it harder and harder for him to keep himself from just coming hard inside her.

He had to finish Rukia off soon, as he certainly wasn't going to last much longer himself. His heart pounded and his cock ached and throbbed, his balls tightening, ready to climax. "Do you like that, Rukia?" he muttered, his voice low and gravelly with arousal.

"N-n... ahh, I... ahh," Rukia muttered, struggling to make any coherent words.

"I can't hear you, Rukia, I asked you if you liked it?" he growled, roughly massaging her breasts as he maintained the steady pace of his thrusts, keeping his body at the exact angle he knew Rukia liked.

"Mmmh, I... ni-sama... I... oh yesssssss," Rukia moaned, as he finally pushed her over the edge, the sensation of his cock inside her, coupled with the rough stimulation of her breasts more than enough to send her into spasms of ecstasy.

Byakuya couldn't hold himself back any longer, gripping Rukia by the waist he pounded into her hard and fast a couple more times, allowing himself the friction he needed to push him over the edge, sending lightening bolts of pleasure and satisfaction through his lower body. "Ahh," he groaned, leaning heavily against Rukia, catching his breath, before pulling away and pulling his robe back into place, while Rukia did the same.

Gently, tenderly, he kissed Rukia on the back of the head, "I love you, Rukia," he whispered, almost inaudibly.

Rukia turned around and looked him in the eye for the first time in their whole encounter. "Byakuya... I... I love you too," she stammered back.

Byakuya sighed momentarily and ran his hand through his hair. "Rukia, I'm going to find a way to make this work, I promise you. I care about you and love you too much to treat you like this. It make take me some time, it may even cost me my position, but I will make things right between us, I promise you."

* * *

Hope you liked it. I can be persuaded to write more, presuming you didn't all hate that chapter :S A short one I know, but I had that scene in mind for a while and thought maybe it would give you lemon-fans something to enjoy ;) hasta pronto


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